Ch.314314 – Reason for Climbing

<314 – Reason for Climbing>

Papa really prepared the <All-Healing Dragon Soup> in just three days.

Among Unique-grade dishes, this was an exceptionally rare one that deserved multiple “super” prefixes to describe its rarity.

The advantage of eating such a dish in the early stages—one that might barely appear in playthroughs where you reach Senior year and the continent’s political situation becomes a mess—was immeasurably significant.

[The Unique dish <All-Healing Dragon Soup> has been added to your Cookbook.]

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Medicinal Dish Collection 30 types – Acquired <Perfect Health> ability.

Unique Dish [All-Healing Dragon Soup] Collection – Disease Resistance increased by 10000%.

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This grants an incredible bonus that essentially makes you immune to all attacks and status effects classified as disease-type.

Even 100% would nullify most effects, but 10000% is such an overwhelming figure that even if your physical condition deteriorates or special debuffs reduce the percentage, it would be nearly impossible for the value to drop below 100%.

Now I probably won’t catch even a cold if I roll around in snow or sleep in wet clothes.

Should I try it when winter comes?

Hmm… I feel like if Isabelle or Arcadia caught me, they’d strip me down and throw me into a hot spring.

[Your understanding of character <Arcadia> has increased.]

[Your understanding of character <Isabelle> has increased.]

Huh? But is that really a bad thing?

A hot spring event would be awesome.

I can’t pass up the chance to collect mineral eggs and sikhye.

I’ll definitely try it when winter comes.

I should add it to my wishlist so I don’t forget!

* *

Three days until the next banquet.

The students’ accommodations were divided into two locations.

The special lodging rooms on the 10th floor.

Or the cruise ship outside the mansion.

Those who gave up climbing the mansion returned to the cruise ship.

No one was bold enough to stay long in a place their mind rejected, and if they had that kind of mental fortitude, they wouldn’t have abandoned the mansion in the first place.

Morb was one of the few students who went against this lower-class trend.

“The wooden puppet floor again?”

“It’s the easiest and closest one after the first floor.”

“Thinking something is easiest just because it’s quick is arrogant. When you reach a higher level and things get difficult, the difficulty waiting for you is completely different from your beginner days.”

“Is that wisdom from your mercenary life?”

“Yes. Cutting is truly a difficult art.”

From Zaku’s answer, Morb realized that he was still wandering in the depths hidden behind the seemingly simple technique of cutting.

When you become an expert in anything, a completely different perspective opens up compared to when you were an ignorant novice.

“It doesn’t matter. Facing difficulties has been my longest-running activity since entering the Academy.”

The cursed equipment items surrounding Morb’s body were trials in themselves.

He grows steadily stronger by enduring physical pain day after day.

Doing difficult things has become as natural as breathing for Morb—it’s simply part of living.

“I have good news for you. Oknodie asked me to tell those going to the lower floors.”

“Oknodie did?”

“You can get special rewards for every 30 minutes you survive on each floor. That’s the kind of place this is.”

“…!”

“Now that you have a goal, do you feel more motivated to take on the challenge?”

“Quite so. I was going to do it anyway, so it feels like a gift. Are you also aiming for this, Zaku?”

“Wooden puppets are good opponents for testing <No-Technique>. If I can steadily build strength without relying on dark mana, the burden on my body will be reduced.”

Of course, I know.

I know that doing this won’t let me catch up to truly monstrous powerhouses like Hestia or Sing.

But I can’t live my life constantly comparing myself to these titans whose level I can barely glimpse even when craning my neck.

The weak have their own lives too.

Even in this place—whether it’s the chairman’s mansion, tower, or training facility—the weak must seize opportunities for growth in their own way.

If I waste the Academy’s summer vacation, the second semester that follows, and even advancement to the second year won’t come easily.

“Just enduring is boring. Let’s have a competition after a long time.”

“You mean who can endure longer?”

Despite his face being hidden behind a helmet, Morb could feel Zaku smiling.

That’s right.

This guy has never refused my challenges.

Maybe being invited to Oknodie’s place for summer vacation wasn’t all bad.

With footsteps as light as his smile, Zaku leaped into the wooden puppet floor.

* *

Sing felt a considerable urge to challenge.

What do dungeons exist for?

They exist to descend deeper.

Because precious rewards sleep in the deepest depths.

What do towers exist for?

They exist to climb higher.

Because precious rewards sleep at the very top.

He enjoyed achieving things.

Above all, the information Oknodie had hinted at fanned the flames in his heart.

“This is called the <Tower of Training>, a special conquest area! It was originally an abandoned facility, so I didn’t expect people to manage it, but seeing it like this is refreshing!”

“You knew about this place?”

“I used to come here often to play.”

…So she frequented such a brutal facility at an even younger age?

Well, considering Oknodie’s strength, it wasn’t an unbelievable story.

The ghost sister, curious about the unfamiliar tower around Oknodie, was pleasantly wandering here and there in ghost form.

“What’s the most efficient way to use this facility?”

“Hmm~ If you’re not interested in the special rewards that increase every 30 minutes on each floor, then summit conquest is best!”

“Summit conquest?”

“The tower gives rewards based on the highest floor you reached when you exit the facility!”

I wonder if Papa will be giving us rewards in this case?

Oknodie’s answer provided strong motivation.

One who hides their power.

Sing recognized it at a glance.

The Chairman was no ordinary powerhouse.

A special gift personally prepared by him.

Though it might be dangerous and unsettling, he was convinced it would be worth it.

At least the Chairman didn’t seem like a petty villain who would package worthless trash with fancy excuses.

“Dream on. I’ll be the first to reach the top.”

“That’s too much reward for someone who only knows magic. You should be the one to give up.”

Sing and Irene climbed at the very front of every floor.

Their ascent, so fast that even the Hero fell behind in momentum, stemmed from a difference in desperation.

The Hero is already strong.

So strong that they wouldn’t stand a chance even if they attacked together.

They want to become stronger.

If climbing this tower could satisfy that craving, there was no reason to refuse.

However, the world cannot be lived on desperation alone.

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Chairman’s Mansion

39F – Silent Floor

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The wall of compatibility appeared.

On the Silent Floor, where making sounds causes blade winds to rush in from all directions.

Sing was cornered on this floor where sound was inevitable.

Unlike Irene, who broke through using shadowless magic, Sing’s progress was blocked.

Zhang, who had been leisurely climbing behind, passed through by using light footwork to avoid the noise traps.

The Hero created noise in other directions using <Holy Mirror> to misdirect the attacks, then broke through the gaps in the blade winds.

Sing couldn’t employ such techniques.

All he knew was how to swing his sword.

To cut all matter that approached his range.

“…I can’t pass this one.”

Even Hestia, who had been clearing paths with ferocious weapon swings, was blocked by the wall of the 39th floor.

The stronger you swing your weapon, the fiercer the blade winds become and the more they rush in.

No matter how careful your first strike, the more noise your weapon makes deflecting the winds, the more blade winds come flying in next.

It was practically a grave for close-combat weapon users.

Those who realized their climb had failed gave up and went down to lower floors, intending to earn special rewards by enduring for more than 30 minutes.

The martial artist Lotta, the stamina monster Son Ocheon, and many other students turned back.

Even Hestia was no exception.

Only Sing continued his lonely battle on that floor, refusing to give up.

Clang! Clang!

Even as more and larger winds rushed in with each noise his sword made deflecting the blade winds.

Even when pushed to the brink where pressing further would mean being killed by the blade winds.

‘After fighting the Apostle of Anrage, I keenly realized. With my current skills, I can barely help Oknodie. I probably don’t have a chance to return home and complete my revenge.’

If he couldn’t grow stronger, he’d rather die here.

As he held this grave determination, Oknodie’s innocent voice reached him.

“Hmm~ Should I give you a hint?”

“…Oknodie. Weren’t you uninterested in climbing this tower?”

“Lin wants to see her brother!”

Lin, always bound to Oknodie’s side.

A fake ghost borrowing the form of his real sister.

He’s known for a long time that she isn’t real.

Nevertheless, facing a being with the same face dulls the heart.

Especially when it’s someone he failed to protect.

‘Just this once’

It makes him harbor such soft thoughts unconsciously.

For the ghost, it’s merely a survival strategy.

If he dies, she loses her reason to stay by Oknodie’s side pretending to be his sister.

So the fake Lin urging Oknodie to bring her here is nothing but a struggle to survive.

Though he rationally understands all these connections, an inexplicable tingling sensation stimulated him.

-Brother. I’m satisfied just being by your side.

A child who was too shy to speak aloud and would trace letters on her palm like a tickle.

A good child without greed.

Sing, who took up the sword and did what the adults assigned him to provide a better environment for such a child.

In his absence, Lin was manipulated and violated by the elders of the family as they pleased.

‘If it were the real Lin, she wouldn’t worry about me.’

What would she expect from someone who couldn’t even protect her small wish to be together?

There would only be resentment left.

Whether the fake Lin couldn’t read such past memories or deliberately ignored them.

Instead of resentment, she shows subtle concern.

Unable to tell whether this made him happy or sad, Sing simply put strength into his sword-wielding body.

“Relax!”

Oknodie’s advice, thrown as if seeing through his inner thoughts.

Startled, Sing listened as Oknodie continued.

“What changes if you cut the wind with force? Wind isn’t something to cut, but to redirect!”

Not cutting, but redirecting.

His sword, seething with hatred and anger, recalled the face of the ghost peeking out from behind Oknodie.

His relaxed sword moved lighter and faster, and the noise from the sword tip became smaller.

As the power of the incoming blade winds decreased, the difficulty he felt lessened.

Sing eventually felt the change.

The blade winds of the 39th floor were no longer challenging.

After all, the blade winds that had been making it difficult for him were his own hatred and anger echoing back.

Slide.

As Sing reached the floor’s exit, a special reward appeared beside him for those who stayed for more than an hour and broke through the floor.

Before reaching for the reward, Sing turned to look at Oknodie, who was smiling behind him.

“Were you the same?”

“Hmm~ I did struggle quite a bit! It was a difficult barrier for all-strength characters who don’t use their heads and try to win with brute force.”

Sing realized.

Though easy to forget because of her ever-smiling face, Oknodie’s past was no less dark than his own.

Perhaps her darkness continues in the present.

Oknodie also has hatred and anger.

While he recalled his sister and restrained his emotions, what does Oknodie think of to restrain hers?

‘Is it really food?’

Sing thought he could somewhat understand Oknodie’s obsession with gastronomy.